Three years after legalizing cannabis, Thai authorities are set to restrict its sale, allowing marijuana purchases only with a doctor’s prescription. The decision comes amid a sharp rise in cannabis-related businesses and addiction rates since the drug was legalized. Authorities have also reported an uptick in tourists attempting to smuggle cannabis across borders, according to the New York Post.
Thailand made headlines in 2022 when it became the first country in Asia to legalize cannabis. However, the move came without the passage of specific laws to regulate its sale, production or consumption, opening the door to a booming, largely unregulated industry.
Medicine vs. agribusiness
In many countries, including Canada, the U.S., France, Germany, China and Australia, the cultivation of industrial hemp, a cannabis plant with low natural levels of psychoactive chemicals, has become part of sustainable agribusiness development.
In Kazakhstan, cannabis remains largely prohibited. In 2023, Minister of Internal Affairs Yerzhan Sadenov stated that medical use of cannabis is banned in the country, citing World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. He added that hemp may be used for certain industrial purposes, such as fiber production, but noted that only five companies had been licensed for this activity.
«But over time, only one of the five licensed enterprises remains active, and I believe it’s unprofitable,» Sadenov said. «The cultivation process is very complicated — it must ensure that no narcotic substances are present. Reaching that point takes a long time, and there are still many unresolved issues.»
As part of the new regulations currently under discussion, industrial hemp products are allowed in Kazakhstan as long as the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis, falls between 0.1% and 0.3%. This threshold is expected to be formally codified in upcoming legal acts.
New impulse
In April 2025, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Sanzhar Adilov announced that the government had issued four licenses to Kazakhstani entrepreneurs planning to launch industrial hemp production.
He noted that during a meeting of the Investment Attraction Council on Feb. 19, the government directed the ministry to draft legislative amendments aimed at supporting the development of the cannabis industry.
«Industrial hemp production is not prohibited in Kazakhstan. So far, the Committee for Combating Drug Trafficking has granted four licenses to local entrepreneurs. One such enterprise, located in the Kostanay region, has already begun cultivating, processing and producing industrial hemp,» Adilov stated.
In May, the Ministry of Agriculture announced plans to begin cultivating industrial hemp in the Ualikhanov district of the North Kazakhstan region. While the investor’s name has not been disclosed, the company is reportedly in negotiations with the local administration to select a planting site. It is seeking suppliers of certified hemp seeds from abroad.
The goal of the investment project is to establish a full-cycle agro-complex for the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp using advanced technologies. Industrial hemp can be used to produce more than 500 products, including gunpowder, oils, paper, textiles, biocomposites, construction materials and environmentally friendly bioplastics.
Meanwhile, southern Kazakhstan continues to grapple with the spread of wild drug-type cannabis. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Indian and Dutch cannabis strains with high THC content have been detected in the Kyzylorda region since 2014. More than 230 tons of cannabis-based drugs have been seized in the past 10 years.
